tomorrow. ♪ happen birthday to you ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ happy birthday -- >> you put your face right in there. >> happy fourth of july everybody. >> happy fourth of july america and canada. >> it's been one contentious week in washington, wrestling to the deadline. republican lawmakers firing back, recesses canceled and names called. goal posts are moved and cats and dogs not living together. the dash for cash goes to the wire the cutoff for the major 2012 money deadline, all candidates, including obama, who both obama and mitt romney

worked donors in philly and first lady dispatched to burlington vermont. can obama top 75 million? >> today is our special look at all things independent, from the independent voters who can decide this election to potential independent candidates. the middle is still what matters. can obama or any republican fill the vacuum before somebody from the outside does. i'm chuck todd, also this morning, that surprising twist in the case against former imf chief dominique strauss-kahn accused of sexual assault on a housekeeper and her credibility now being questioned. the case on the verge of collapse. could he be released? could he make a comeback in france? >> let's get right to my first -- democrats are floating a july 22nd deal leaving time for lawmakers to pass a bill and have that three-day period for everybody to look at it before the august 2nd recess.

but responding to the president's fiery rhetoric from wednesday, republicans spent the day yesterday firing back. >> it frankly wrangles many of us to have the president engage in blame shifting when he himself is unwilling to take responsibility for his duties. >> con descending speech yesterday that told congress ignored the fact that he was elected as president to lead. >> maybe he would take a valium and come down and talk to us, it might be helpful. >> the president toned down his rhetoric last night at the fundraiser in philadelphia while doing a little previewing of his re-election message. take a listen. >> while i'm working there will be candidates doing what they do, they are going to attack.

the american people are a lot less interested in us attacking each other. they are more interested in us attacking the country's problem. they want us to exchange ideas about the future. that's the contest i'm looking forward to because it's the contest that america needs and we will win. >> one thing to keep an eye on, since we're been covering barack obama as a presidential candidate starting in the summer of 2007. every single summer has been a bad summer for him politically. summer of '07, summer of '08, summer '09 health care town hall, summer of '10 the oil spill. one other thing, he traveled overseas. this time he's not doing that. this time they are trying to make their summer not a political problem, trying to go on offense, that was the point of the wednesday press conference, trying to get some of this debate back on their terms because as a lot of democrats have argued, all of these debates, from the stimulus at the start of the presidency

to health care, to the midterms, all of it has been done with the republicans framing the debate. they are trying to do that. we will see if this summer pays off for the president. heading into the holiday weekend, mitt romney down played the fundraisering in a stop in allentown, pennsylvania. >> doesn't have a primary opponent. he's going to raise a billion dollars? we're not going to raise anywhere near that kind of money. >> mitt romney's campaign said his total would be less than what he raised in the first major quarter of 2007. tim pawlenty expected to bring in less than 5 million. jon huntsman raised a little over 2 million throwing his own money at 4 million. ron paul told supporters he's raised over $4 million. the number though everybody is watching what will the michele bachmann number be?

she can transfer money from the house campaign. was she able to get in the internet and direct mail money in in time? will the number be forth of 5 million? will it be north of 10? that would be somewhat of a surprise. meanwhile, a siren for the supporters of rick perry, he's scouting out a vendor pot at the straw poll. it's our understanding perry won't get into the race until after he has the national day of prayer on august 6th. the straw poll is basically a week later. he wouldn't get in before then bupt the straw poll could be a way to see if that's the launching point and he gets in sometime in late august in time for those three debates that mitt romney and company are competing in in september. meanwhile, though there are no firm numbers yet, we're expecting a big quarter from team obama. fundraisers are predict they will bring in more than the

record breaking that george bush raked in in 2003. the campaign tweeted add midnight, we're closing the books on the first chapter of the campaign with 493,697 donors. what does that mean? if he averages $200 a donor, he's going to be at awfully close to $100 million. obama did average $200 a donor the first two quarters as a candidate. campaign keeps pushing back on that. but do the math. in our look at all things independent. in battle ground states and emerging battleground states, the independent share of the voters equal to the two major parties or ahead, all courtesy of a book called how barack obama won, some guy here may have co-authored. in iowa and texas, 21%. in montana, 35%.

45% in new hampshire. bottom line is this, we know elections are won in the middle. wept strong for obama in '08. but the big question is there such a vacuum in the middle that somebody tries to fill it from the outside? we're going to talk about that later today. as bloomberg was first to reported, tim geithner has signaled to the white house that he is considering thinking about leaving the administration after the president reaches an agreement with congress to raise the national debt limit. in an appearance yesterday with former president bill clinton at the clinton global initiative event, he played down the reporting saying he'll remain in his position for the foreseeable future. we're told it's accurate geithner is thinking about it. we're also told not to read as much into as others are. it's about living in d.c., close to the president and his political team and enjoyed the town more than he expected. would end up being a big surprise if geithner did leave.

think about it, confirming a new treasury secretary would be painful and difficult. it would serve to relitigate the economic policy at a time that the republican presidential campaign is getting started. and it also could serve as a signal, we're told a lot of cabinet secretaries were given a window to leave, none of them are expected to leave now until november of 2012. at this point geithner doing this would be a real bombshell to the west wing. with budget negotiations still deadlocked, lay makers have ramped up the posturing in an effort to score points with the public, democrats and republicans are blaming each other for blocking a budget deal. kelly o'donnell, ain't no recess next week, huh? >> they claim they are going to work. let's see how much they get done. they are gone today and they'll be gone through the holiday and back here to try to show that they are concerned and willing to work on this debt issue.

and one of things if you want to know what's behind this republican anger, their feeling has been that the president has floated above the whole negotiation a little bit too much. the vice president was a key player but they say the president has not done enough and republicans are saying the president is ignoring a political realty that any kind of tax increase in a budget package would not pass, therefore it's a nonstarter. therefore it takes the country closer to the brink. that's the thinking behind this. one of senators who was so upset about it, mark rubio, a florida, a new senator who has this to say. >> quite frankly, it's disappointing and the kind of language you would expect from a leader of a third world country, not the president of the united states. either the president doesn't truly understand the nature of the problem that we face or he's decided that's this is a political issue and not a policy one. >> third world country if you missed that. that's an interesting thing. marco rubio in a separate

interview referred to the president as a left wing strong man. that's tough language. there's been a lot of anger and frustration. they want the president to be more engaged and really took issue with his suggestion at the press conference that they weren't working hard enough. some bruised egos and thin skin and underneath that, some really strong policy differences that are fueling this summer wild fire on capitol hill. >> kelly, quickly, do we know for sure if the president accepted the reid invitation to come? >> they have suggested they have not been told about the meeting yet. it's hard to imagine that if reid made the invitation that the president wouldn't come. the republicans were upset they invited the president and got a cold no. it would seem the president who want to be participating to try to emphasize that they are actually all here. but republicans are saying, they haven't been told yet.

>> we shall see. kelly o'donnell or capitol hill for us. thanks. while wall street is looking to end the week on a high note but depends on a whole pile of new data coming in today. becky quick has an early look at the markets. i'm a cynic. i assume most of the important wall street guys are already at the hamptons. >> you're probably right but the computers will let them trade from there too. there is active trading this morning there's a big number coming later. you mentioned it already, the ism, the manufacturing report for the month we've been watching closely. heading into this week there were a lot of expectations that the ism would come in a reading below 50 that would indicate we're seeing retraction in the economy. since then we have a numbers thinking it would be a positive number. the dow actually ended the quarter which ended yesterday and the second first half on a positive note. .08%, you couldn't believe from

the losses we saw in the month of june, already people are coming in with the expectation we could get good numbers today. it looks like the market is up by 14 or 15 points. auto sales could come in with positive surprises the i.s.m. could come in better than we thought at the beginning of the week and maybe consumer confidence will be better too. we'll see how it goes. they are out at the ham tons but still watching and markets are still moving. >> june stunk, it's now july. we'll see. becky quick at cnbc world headquarters. happy independence day. >> you too. >> could there be room for an independent candidate in the 2012 presidential race. we're looking at the growing power of the independent voter and what issues are most important to them. first a look ahead at the president's schedule, not much going on. going to camp david this weekend, which also means we're not seeing him on the golf course this weekend. you're watching "the daily rundown" on msnbc. ♪ that's the way, uh-huh, uh-huh ♪

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the number of american voters identifying themselves as independents is on the rice. in 2008 and 2010 they've proven they can make or break an election. we're joined by glenn bulger and vaughn. you work at republican opinion strategies the republican firm that helps with the nbc wall street journal poll. no better person to come in here. independent voters, you preach this morning anybody i know, you have this tension with some of the campaign strategists who want to worry about the base and not enough about the middle.

explain. >> you look at the last five elections and probably further back than that. when independents break one way heavily then it's a landslide election. 2006 they broke heavily to the democrats, 2008, same thing. 2010 heavily to republicans. elections where they are close, 2000, 2004 -- >> they still go with the winner. >> but when they are close, this means it's going to be a close election nationally as well. nothing is more important than winning independents. >> there's two styles of independent voters, you lived in alaska and colorado and you have people in alaska that call themselves independents but they are something else. walk me through that. >> when i look at independent voters i look through the pris many of the rest of the country, if you look at the poll, do you believe in government, your

religious institutions, schools, those are all very low on the list. i thing political parties have suffered the same thing. people have lost faith in those kinds of institutions and turned off by the inability to get things done and motivated -- parties are motivated by their own self-interest, not interest of people. that's why we've seen a real rise in independent voter but they are different. they are the folks who really do participate in the process but don't participate in it so much that they pay attention to every little thing. they are more likely to be influenced by the larger factors happening around an election. >> put up a stat about the growth of independent vote. in 2005, 30% of folks were self-described. 2011 it went up to as high as 37%. we have another question we put on the nbc wall street journal poll which is are you open to this idea of the third party or a third entity? it's been sitting -- it's been slowly creeping up, right?

it's been a hard 15 to 20%, it's gotten up to close to 30%. that opening, do you think someone will take advantage of it? the last time we had an opening that high was 91, '92, same situation, all of a sudden perot showed up. >> you raise a good question. what i've said in the past is the two political parties are very good at protecting their turf. in other words, with perot, republicans quickly picked up his anti-spending and anti-deficit message and made that their own in '94. it worked very well. we always see the parties kind of saying, if we're in danger, we need to grow and give room but now both parties are so base oriented, i think that makes it much more -- much more open per

tune for a third party candidate, i don't think a third party per se. >> i want to talk about the potential candidates here. there's never been an opening bigger for a potential independent candidacy than now. but i've never seen a list be so small of potential people that could actually fill the vacuum. the business community is so unpopular with the american public and that used to be the first place we would like, ross perot, obviously coming from the business community and donald trump before he went insane. there is not that obvious place to go draft somebody. >> there isn't. i don't think there's a long list of people willing to spend the money it will take to get -- look at the challenges that ross perot faced. he had to get on a ballot, all 50 states. >> did not have the internet. there's a couple of groups out there that will pull this off. >> the parties are not only good

at protecting their surf ideologually but also give at gaining the system for their own needs. unless you have a real rationale for it and somebody who is such a personality that you can peg a movement off that person, it's very, very difficult. >> independent voter, where are they? are they moderate, conservative? a little bit of both? >> the answer is yes. they are hard to pin down and it makes it difficult for poll sisters and campaign strategists to reach them because they pay attention later generally. right now here's what we know about independent voters. one, they do decide elections and two, they are very angry right now. a couple of things, one on the nbc wall street -- >> angrier. >> angrier. the right direction wrong track number is more negative among independent voter than it is among the entire ee lek tore rat

at -- >> anything anti-washington. thank you both for coming in. it's getaway friday but not all of us are getting away. a first impression can go a long way. we'll tell you how this year's crop of presidential candidates are breaking with tradition when it comes to big introduction. our trivia question will be a difficult one. since 1900, how many states have had governors elected or re-electeded from nonmajor parties? elected is the key word. tweelt me at chuck todd or daily rundown with the answer. i'll probably do it a couple times if you pull this one off. i'll have the answer and more coming up after this.

well, you only get one chance to make a first impression, doesn't matter who you are and the media saturation what it is becomes even more critical when you're actually

running for president. our political reporter has put together a fabulous package here about first impressions and presidential races. >> absolutely. chuck, if primaries are all about voters committing to candidates, then it's really that -- these folks are on first dates at this point. you know, with the field pretty much set we're starting to see how the candidates are really trying to sell themselves. >> i say to them tonight -- >> reporter: they say you don't get a second chance to make a first impression. >> there's the united states of america. >> lieutenant commander in the navy -- 64787. >> it's time we had a president who cares. >> reporter: presidential candidates off first impression is made in the first ads. >> it's how they want you to see them. >> george w. bush, a compassionate conservative

leader. >> reporter: they also tell us something about what kind of candidate they will be. what they want to run on. >> i have great faith and hope about the future because i believe in you. >> in 2012, they are all doing it differently. mitt romney is making clear what he's going to focus on. >> with a growing economy, good jobs and fiscal discipline in washington -- michele bachmann makes a populist pitch. >> i want to take your voice into the white house. >> reporter: tim pawlenty, the minnesota governor often stereo typed as a big bland is opting for the dramatic. >> i know the american dream because i lived it. >> reporter: lesser known candidates seek attention. ♪ >> reporter: or try to be provocative or like jon huntsman, they go unconventional. the way they are introducing themselves may be different, but there's something new this year that all of the candidates and potential kand dates are doing. >> i'm inviting you to follow me

on facebook, twitter -- >> you can always follow me on tweeter. >> almost all of the us announcement videos will posted on facebook first before the traditional speech. still nothing replaces tv ads as the most effective and expensive way to get a message out in early states and those are already starting to air. >> first impression can go a long way. >> i am announcing that i am running for president of the united states of america. >> i'm newt gingrich. >> michele bachmann. >> they are willing to try almost anything to make it a lasting one. as the campaign heats up, we'll see more of these candidates, with the second quarter fund raising deadline having passed last night we'll get our first look on who can raise the type of money necessary to go on air with tv ads in early states. >> i have to say, when you look at all of this this year, the candidate, when you look at who's gone from zero to double

digits better than anybody, he has probably made the best impression by far if you look at the numbers. >> the thing is with the michele bachmann candidacy it takes away the steam a little bit. >> he is going to need michael j. fox and back to the future guys to come up with nuclear energy or something. dmin co-good stuff. july 1st means something else. it's new state law day the most wonderful -- from the sublime to ridiculous, we'll have a rundown of the interesting new laws on the books starting today. trust me, it's a lot about wine. what does an outside candidate have to do to become an insider? first, our washington speak. >> walk and chew gum at the same time. >> walk and chew gum at the same time. >> we can walk and chew gum at the same time. >> walk and chew gum at the same

time. >> be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. >> apparently everybody is chewing gum, a lot of it has nick ret in it. talking about their ability to negotiate the debt ceiling while campaigning, getting bin laden. focusing simultaneously on social issues and economic ones. that's the base the party cares about. send us an e-mail while we're chewing gum. we'll be right back. spirin. it has microparticles, enters the bloodstream faster and rushes relief to the site of pain. it's clinically proven to relieve pain twice as fast. new bayer advanced aspirin. oh, just booked a summer vaycay. ooo. sounds pricey? nah, with the hotels.com summer sale, you can find awesome deals for places nearby. interesting...

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can your moisturizer do that? [ female announcer ] dermatologist recommended aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. only from aveeno. here's a look at some other stories making headlines, dominique strauss-kahn where it is expected his heavy bail restrictions will be lightened. growing questions on the credibility of the hotel

housekeeper who leveled the accusations of sexual assault. hundreds of new laws take effect across the nation, from the controversial to the sensible to the thepy czar. in georgia it's a felony to submit false documents when applying for a job. it's part of the crackdown on illegal immigration. officials can be booted from office for not verifying the status of those signing up for benefits. new laws regulating abortions services are going into effect with the new focus on what's happening in kansas. licensing regulations require them to set specific temperatures for recovery rooms. critics say it's a employ to cut off access to services. the entire state of kansas has one provider. in south dakota, they blocked a new law the toughest in the nation. requires women to meet at

anti-abortion centers. remember this scene from the movie qus e.t., a new law makes it mandatory for schools to opt out of dissecting frogs in science class. instead, students can learn through interactive films and 3-d computer programs. come on, you've got to see the slime. toll maryland, where fine dining has gone to the dogs. food lovers can bring okay nine campaign ons and dogs must be on a leash and they are responsible nor any messes. the outdoor places in annapolis will have a lot of dogs in it. we're giving a special look at the independent candidate in politics. last year's midterm was a warning to both parties about the power of third party candidacy. with so much voter disaffection is the time ready for an

independent candidate in 2012, ang gus king, he's been patient through technical difficulties, elected twice as an independent and got there because in maine, the two state parties went way to the bases. governor king, thank you for joining by skype and explain how maybe what you benefited from in maine is taking place nationally right now. >> certainly there's a mood, chuck, that people are just sort of had it with the constant fighting. i noticed a headline earlier where one of republican senators said the president is playing politics with the budget and you know, i'm shocked to hear that, shocked that anybody would do such a thing on either side. aisle. people are getting sort of tired of that. my experience was people just want the problem solved and they are tired of being -- blame being cast one way or the other. your comment ator put his finger on it. the problem is really structural and financial.

it's one thing to pull it off in one state. just getting in the ballot on all 50 states is in the tens of millions of dollars in costs. it's not accident that the one guy that pulled it off in the last 25 years was a billionaire ross perot. >> governor king, i know you were aware of a few different entities that are trying essentially to get on the ballot and sort of almost provide -- saying, here you go and hoping that if you build it, they will come. are you confident these groups can make this happen? >> i was involved in such a group four years ago called unity '08. we foundered on the rock of the valid access. there's a new group, americans elect that seems to be pretty good at raising money. i haven't been directly involved with them but been in touch with them and they are making progress in collecting signatures but it remains to be seen whether they can pull it off. the other thing to say about independents is that they are in

fact independent. >> right. >> the idea that they represent a middle road necessarily, that isn't necessarily the case. some of them are independent because they think the republican party is too far to the left or vice versea, the idea that if you can get a moderate middle of the road independent candidate on the ballot for president that those percentages you showed in those states, 33, 35%, 45% new hampshire would necessarily vote for that person, i'm not sure that would be the case. having said all of that, the public is definitely ready for the change in the way politics is being done. >> governor king, where does this person come from? i say this because 20 years ago people actually looked up to ceos and looked up to the business community. you don't see that these days. people are sour on everybody. they feel like so many institutions have let them down. how does a third party candidate or independent candidate gain

credibility? is it simply a reformed democrat or reformed republican who says, you know what, i'm out of here, i'm going to do it a different way? where do these potential presidents come from? >> i think it's exactly what you just said. i think it's going to be somebody from one of other of the two parties that just says i can't stand the direction that i'm being pushed and pulled here. and i think that's really the problem. and you know, if you look back in this country a couple hundred years, parties have evolved or movements that have turned into parties from either a charismatic individual or an overriding powerful issue. of course the best example is the republican party with the anti-slavery party in 1856 and 1860. that was the overriding issue. or a guy like perot who had this kind of national appeal. it's very hard -- one of problems in talking about a

moderate candidate is that moderates tend not to turn people on all that much in terms of excitement, the activists aren't going to go out and make those thousand phone calls. so it's a hard road but i'll tell you, i think every round we seem to be getting closer to it where people are ready to say, i want to try something else. i thought for a while it might be michael bloomberg. i think he maybe has given up that flirtation, although, i'm not sure of that, but he might -- it is hard to see where it would come from. i think it would be somebody, a guy name chuck hagle, for example, a republican senator from nebraska i believe. >> who endorsed obama essentially? >> yeah, he is a terrific guy. i can see a guy like that and maybe a slightly disaffected democrat coming together and forming a team that could change

american politics. >> we'll see if they build it and these folks come. governor angus king from maine. thanks for putting up with the technical issues. the skype worked out great. >> it's 70 degrees and gorgeous up here on the coast of maine, you ought to be here? >> you know what, i got a daughter who's going to camp up there, i'm looking forward to it. thanks very much. >> up next, we've got a great panel here on this getaway friday. new fund raising numbers and lawmakers canceling vacation it's worth stilling around for. the white house soup of the day is chicken noodle but this song is dedicated to the debt ceiling state mate to the nba lockout and nfl lockout, rage that puts you in a good mood. you're watching the daily rundown. true north. toward mountains of sand. toward new sights and sensations.

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lawmakers build be in next

week to continue negotiations on the debt. chief of national group and madden has messed up our round table, remains a supporter but not officially affiliated with the campaign. ron, i want to start with you, since you've been involved in formations of negotiations taking place on capitol hill and you were involved in the cr negotiations, how hard is this going to be to get this debt deal done at this point? >> well, i think it is going to be hard. it's gone on a long time for a reason but i think that president obama made a powerful kals the other day about what needs to happen and what needs to get done and why it's very important. and hopefully feekz wiolks willo the senses and get things done. >> did you get the sense when you were in the room, that he could speak for his caucus or not? >> that's a hard question to

not. what's going on in the republican side is doubly hard, they have a divided party, no question about that. but i hope everyone it come together around the idea that we shouldn't let the country go in default. we have to pay our bills. that's what great nations do. it's time to get it done. >> kevin madden, the pressure on republicans to realize the came pain is over here and politically they don't want to give any victory to the president. if they look too political, they are going to get punished. how do you think mcconnell and boehner handle this. >> i think the president is struggling here. i think he doesn't have any leverage. he knows that john boehner at least increasingly starting to realize he has all of the leverage. he does know where his conference is. not only does he know where his conference is. knows where the democrat caucus is and the votes in there that don't want to raise taxes and don't want a clean debt -- >> what you're seeing up on

capitol hill is a dynamic of somebody who has got things done before who is very method cal politician in john boehner and president obama who doesn't know where he stands and the last two showdowns caved to republicans. john knows that. >> ron, break the stalemate between the two. one side has the leverage. >> the republicans said bill clinton had no leverage in the showdown, but touches out he did. that's what we saw barack obama use last week beating up on republicans and raising money i suspect. >> doing what he did by drawing blood the way he drew yesterday. does that mean wednesday was a success politically or not? >> we don't know. it apieced his base, probably raised money online that he needs to do to have a good number. also, puts some pressure on republicans at a time when he

wants them to know there might be a paying point, remind them of the 1990st. both are using the leverage and his is the bully pulpit and his have had the upper hand in the last two. >> we're seeing the obama campaign machine come up. erp involved in the biden campaign early on. when you see these two -- take me into the mind of tim pawlenty campaign watching at least mitt romney is going to lap him. what is the anxiety level in sort of these second tier campaigns trying to be first tear during the fund raising periods? >> the next 48 hours are the worst 48 hours of the campaign for someone on the republican side who is not mitt romney. and it's just obviously horrible to wake up and see your second tier campaign and someone has not only lapped you but lapped you and lapped you. that's what you're about to see on the republican side.

in the end, i think the struggle for the republicans isn't so much getting money, it's getting a message that can resonate with the voters, they are struggling on it. some campaigns are doing well in money. >> i would disagree. >> kevin, having the problem with the money, the message we got. >> i was going to say, mitt romney is not going to raise search they did four years ago. this is apples to apples. >> it's a very competitive environment and tough economy makes it tougher to raise money. there are a lot of candidates out there barbour and rick perry now -- >> do you think it slows things down? >> a lot of big money people waiting on the sidelines. i don't think this is going to be a number that's going to scare somebody like rick perry out. but i think that what you're going to see from governor romney is a much more efficient campaign. the last time there was a lot -- bigger burn rate, i think you'll see a fishing campaign. >> we'll be back.

i want to talk about independent voters after this. we asked since 1900, how many states had governors ee leked from nonmajor party. the answer which nobody at this table got was 10. minnesota has had more governors than any other, they've had three. minnesota has had the most. the farmer labor party that merged with the democrats and of course, jesse venn chur ra. we are going to talk independents after this. add a little...add a lot. for a drink that's just the way you like it. make it yours. make it mio. ♪ [ cat meows ] ♪ [ whistle ] ♪ [ cat meows ] ♪ [ ting! ] [ male announcer ] travelers can help you protect the things you care about

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all right. let's bring back the panel. kevin madden, i want to talk independent voters. you wrote a book a few years back about the applebee's america. it's about a group of voters out there. the two parties got them, but they are renting them. >> exactly. >> what do you see that is similar to where things were in 1992? >> it's the same dynamic. there's a bigger middle that's

not connecting at all with washington. they are religious, military media and politics in washington. it's why we have seen these great swings in elections. you can't assume just because barack obama's numbers are dismal among independents, you can't assume that's the case a year from now. >> you were involved in the '92 campaign back in the day. the clinton campaign responded. took on issues they never thought they were taking on a year and a half earlier with the debt and the deficit. do you feel the obama team is responding? or are slow? >> i don't think they are slow. this time, it's going to be the republican side where you see a primary where they are pushed farther and farther to the right, having to swear allegiance to get through the

contentious primary process with michele bachmann and herman cain. the voters are way out there on the plank. >> mitt romney seems to be trying to avoid the pitfall. >> right. >> if he doesn't, does that become a problem? >> potentially. i'm looking at it with a more positive outlook. you have to look at where the persuasive voters are. new hampshire and south carolina, independent voters play large there. >> do you think romney is counting as conservative independents to participate? >> i think conservatives are most animated about the economy. that's the issue governor romney is focused on. it's a larger swath. >> very quickly. >> here is one thing to look for a comparison.

clinton pushed them to the middle. obama is pushing on fiscal reform. >> make them fast, five seconds. >> the national journal daily, matt cooper. >> i love it. good stuff. >> my new column bloomberg view. >> a great new web ad called actions not words hitting the president. >> the only person doing a shameless plug. that's it for this edition of ""the daily rundown"" have a great fourth weekend. see you here after the holiday. coming up next, "jansing & co." after that, "andrea mitchell reports." stay tuned for that, too. i'll see you at 7:00 with chris for "hardball." new newtons fruit thins. real blueberries and blueberry brown sugar...

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